To provide a conventional vehicle frame member with a shock absorbing mounting portion, the frame member is first formed into its desired configuration by hydroforming, stamping, or some other suitable method and then a hole is formed in the wall of the frame member during a secondary punching or piercing operation. A cup-shaped bushing comprising a cup-shaped exterior can filled with solidified rubber or other suitable shock absorbing material is then welded or press-fit inside the hole. This conventional method is used instead of drawforming the exterior can directly from the frame member wall due to the space restrictions inside the pre-formed tubular member. Specifically, drawforming an integral cup-shaped wall from the wall of the pre-formed tubular member cannot be accomplished because the female die half necessary for such drawforming cannot be removed after the drawforming operation is complete.
The problem with this type of arrangement is that numerous steps must be undertaken to properly mount the bushing, thus increasing manufacturing time and costs. Also, the tolerances between the bushing exterior and the hole formed in the wall must be kept within a certain range to ensure that failure does not occur as a result of the bushing being pulled out.